eHarmony cat lady from Montco to star in Volkswagen ad

In just one year, Cara Hartmann—better known as the “eHarmony Cat Lady” —has gone from YouTube sensation to a star in a commercial for Volkswagen that will appear during Super Bowl XLVII.

The Volkswagen commercial brings together some of the most memorable YouTube videos of the past few years, highlighting people at their most upset, angry and vulnerable moments. The YouTube stars converge in a field and meet up with reggae legend Jimmy Cliff as he gives them “much needed positivity and good vibes,” because “It’s time to get happy.”

Hartmann, whose alter ego in the eHarmony video bio is “Debbie,” is the first YouTube clip that appears in the commercial and she appears three more times; at the end Jimmy Cliff refers to her as the “crazy cat hugging lady,” as she sways back and forth while holding a basket with a cat.

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“Shooting the commercial was incredible,” Hartmann, 24, said in an email late Thursday night. “It’s been the highlight of this whole YouTube journey so far.”

Hartmann, a 2007 graduate of Lower Merion High School, was contacted by Volkswagen after representatives saw her eHarmony video bio on YouTube, which now has more than 25 million views.

“They originally asked to use my footage for an online advertisement, but then that turned into them having me act in it, and later I found out it would air nationally,” she said.

After she was contacted and the commercial was expanded to Hartmann and the other actors actively participating, she was asked to travel about an hour outside of Los Angeles (where Hartmann now lives) to shoot the commercial.

“I originally thought it was going to be a small set where they would only need me for a short scene, but when I got to the location it was huge,” Hartmann said. “It was on a big horse farm and we shot really early. It was about 32 degrees and I was in a tank top and pajama bottoms the entire time, so that was a little difficult. But I had my own trailer and was beyond excited just to be there that a little cold didn’t bother me.”

What started as a video just to get a laugh out of her sister has now transformed into a part in a commercial that will be viewed by the largest television audience in broadcast history, if recent Super Bowls are any indicator. The 2012 Super Bowl became the most watched television program in U.S. history, with 111.3 million viewers.Eight of the 10 most watched television programs in history are Super Bowls. The only non-Super Bowl events on that list are the M*A*S*H* series finale (106 million and fourth all-time) and the Cheers series finale (93.1million and ninth all-time).

With all of this happening in just one year, Hartmann still has not had time to absorb all of the fans she has gained, and all of the fame she will receive after the commercial airs in front of hundreds of millions of people.

“It’s very surreal,” she exclaimed. “Never in a million years would I think a video I made just to make my sister laugh would get me a national television commercial, let alone one that would be played during the most watched program during the year!”

She has no plans on letting her career plateau with a Super Bowl commercial, as she is already finishing up her next video.

“I just finished making a rap video for the ‘Debbie’ character for a song called ‘99 Cats,’” Hartmann said. “Everyone wanted me to make another video with Debbie, so there it is!”